Paper bag rack



W. W. REESER PAPER BAG RACK Sept. 25, 1962 Filed July 28, 1960 Woodrow W Reeser lN VEN TOR.

United States Patent 3,055,508 PAPER BAG RACK Woodrow W. Reeser, 853 E. Broad St., Elyria, Ohio Filed July 28, 1960, Ser. No. 45,852 2 Claims. (Cl. 211-51) This invention relates to an improved multipurpose openwork rock which is adapted to serve any one of a number of purposes and which is highly suitable and satisfactory when employed as a holder for a batch of folded paper bags for use, for example, in a self-service grocery or similar merchandising store.

More specifically, the present invention pertains to a rack which lends itself to satisfactory construction from bendable wire and which, in practice, embodies front, back and bottom walls or members so arranged and connected as to provide an article accommodating and holding space therebetween.

In keeping with the more specific principles of the invention the front wall is provided on a central portion thereof with a resilient finger which serves as a follower and has one end attached to the front wall and a free end portion directed downwardly and toward the back or rear wall in a manner to resiliently press against the bags to keep them in order and, at the same time, to allow the bags to be spread apart sufficiently to facilitate removing and using the same one by one.

A general objective of the invention is to structurally, functionally and otherwise improve upon article racks and, in so doing, to provide a special and suitable adaptation of the same which will appeal, it is believed, to manufacturers, retailers, and will satisfactorily serve the purposes of storekeepers and users in general.

These together with other objects and advantages which will become subsequently apparent reside in the details of construction and operation as more fully hereinafter described and claimed, reference being had to the accompanying drawings forming a part hereof, wherein like numerals refer to like parts throughout, and in which:

FIG. 1 is a view in perspective of a rack constructed in accordance with the principles of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a front elevational view on a smaller scale.

FIG. 3 is a section on the vertical line 33 of FIG. 2 looking in the direction of the arrows.

Referring now to the views of the drawings, the main components or walls are made up of bent wire portions and, in fact, the principal parts of the over-all rack may be fashioned from a single length of wire but this is not, of course, essential. In keeping with the preferred embodiment the back wall or member, which is substantially flat and generally trapezoidal in plan, is denoted by the numeral 6. It comprises a horizontal top member 8 and downwardly converging end members 10. There is also an X-shaped portion at the approximate center thereof made up of centrally crossed wires 12 whose upper ends are fashioned into eyes 14 so arranged that they may be attached, with the aid of a washer, by screws or the like to a wall or other surface. The front wall or member is denoted generally by the numeral 16 and it is also fashioned from wire and is made up principally of two vertical coplanar left and right loops 18 and 20. These loops are generally heart-shaped in front elevation, the narrower or small end portions being disposed downwardly. The loops are in general coplanar relation and spaced from the frame-like rear wall 6. There is a rigidifying frame, also of wire, provided at 22 and this is fashioned to include a bight portion 24 and a pair of downwardly and outwardly diverging limbs 26 which are welded or otherwise connected to the cooperating inwardly disposed members 28 of the left and right loops 18 and 20.

Patented Sept. 25, 1962 This frame '22 has a series of braces which are parallel to each other and are horizontally disposed, for example, a top brace 30, a central brace 32 and a lower brace 34. The aforementioned spring follower finger is in the form of a Hat spring metal strip having one end 35 anchored on the brace 32, a median portion bent over the top brace 30 as at 36 and a free ended diagonally bent portion 38 which extends or spans the space between the two walls 6 and 16 and which has a free end directed toward the rear wall and reinforced by a bend or coil 40. There is also a bottom wall as at 42 which embodies (FIG. 1) several X-shaped component portions or braces. More specifically, the arrangement has to do with one X- shaped component or brace to the left of the center, one to the right of the center and an intermediate one between. Stated otherwise there is an X-shaped brace at the left connecting the loop 18 with a back member and a corresponding one at the right connecting the loop member 20 with the back member and then one in between which is interposed between the rigidifying frame 22 in the back member. Each X-shaped brace is made up of cross wires one denoted at 44 and the other denoted at 46.

It will be understood that the exact shape of and the elements which go to make up the front, back and bottom members or walls are not matters of absolute limitation. Nevertheless, many and varied ways have been undertaken to correctly fashion a highly satisfactory openwork wire rack and the one shown has proved out to be highly successful which is why it is being described in particularizing detail.

Somewhat more briefly, the rack may be said to be characterized by vertical spaced, parallel front and back members or walls 16 and 6 joined by a horizontal bottom wall, the back wall 6 being frame-like and of openwork construction and preferably of wire, the front wall 16 being constructed of wire made up of the several components, namely, the two loops '18 and 20 and the intervening rigidifying and bracing frame 22 with this frame 22 carrying the spring tongue which constitutes a follower and has its free end portion 40 engageable with the bags when the bags are in the rack in the manner shown in FIG. 3. The three X-shaped component portions which make up the bottom wall 42 are somewhat incidental but are involved in the peculiar bending of the wire which has gone into the making of the embodiment of the invention here illustrated.

It is to be repeated that while the wire is sturdy it can be bendably resilient at least to the extent that the front wall 16 is allowed to bend away from the rear wall as brought out in dotted lines in FIG. 3.

This rack in most cases will be made so that it can be fitted between shelves, so that it can be fastened to a kitchen cabinet door to add to its usefulness. It is within the purview of the invention, of course, to use the rack indoors or outdoors. For outdoor use it may be employed for newspapers and magazines, packages and so on. It may be made in different sizes to accommodate different paper bags (small, large and medium) and is therefore regarded as a highly practical device constituting a contribution to the art to which this invention relates.

As is apparently clear, the herein disclosed bag rack is self-standing. This means, of course, that it is not necessarily hung up by way of the attaching or hanger eyes. There will be times and situations where the user desires to stand the rack on a suitable support surface; so, the illustration of use in FIG. 3 is not to be taken as limiting the mode of use. Then, too, it may well be pointed out that the construction is such that the bag space will accommodatingly hold bags and sacks of various sizes at the same time. The follower spring adapts itself automatically to one bag or a pack of bags, as the case may be.

The foregoing is considered as illustrative only of the principles of the invention. Further, since numerous modifications and changes will readily occur to those skilled in the art, it is not desired to limit the invention to the exact construction and operation shown and described, and accordingly all suitable modifications and equivalents may be resorted to, falling within the scope of the invention as claimed.

What is claimed as new is as follows:

1. An article rack comprising a generally fiat back member having means for attaching the same in a vertical position to a fixed vertical support surface, a bottom member horizontally disposed and joined to a lower portion of said back member and extending forwardly at right angles therefrom, a vertically disposed front member joined to the bottom member and in spaced parallelism relative to the back member and providing an article receiving and holding space between the back and front members, said back and front members being free of connection with each other except by way of the bottom member whereby said space is freely open at the transverse ends of the overall rack, said front member being bendably resilient and capable of being flexed and bent in a direction either toward or away from the back member to vary and increase the width of said space, all of said members being fashioned from bent wire and being of openwork construction, said front member embodying a pair of coplanar right and left open loop-like components and an accompanying intervening rigidifying and connecting portion, and a spring-biased follower normally bridging the median portion of said space and operatively mounted on a median portion of said front member.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Re. 14,279 Back Apr. 3, 1917 849,676 Gordon Apr. 9, 1907 932,366 Barnard Aug. 24, 1909 1,308,031 Bell July 1, 1919 1,380,534 Dalton June 7, 1921 1,664,650 Van Korlaar Apr. 3, 1928 2,124,780 Keppler July 26, 1938 2,633,994 Brown Apr. 7, 1953 2,927,699 McGraw Mar. 3, 1960 

